Vitiation
by Daria6
Summary: After the mission to Euronda, the team is divided. Will a crisis bring them together?
1. Chapter 1

AN: This story is not a sequel to Omitted. It was written in response to a challenge on the Alpha gate list during the same time frame. It needs some proofing, but I'll post each chapter as I clean it up. Never fear, it's all done, so it won't take so long to post. I expect a chapter every few days. I think putting the challenge at the front of the story would give too much away, so I'll put the challenge it was a response to at the end of the last chapter. Because I was meeting the challenge requirements, there may be some similarities to Omitted, so I had considered not posting this one—but I decided to go ahead anyway, because they are different enough, I think. Despite how it may seem early in the story this is NOT a Jack bashing story.

This story is set right after the episode "The Other Side" and so has big spoilers for that episode, and possibly for earlier eps.

Chap 1:

Each step took every bit of energy Daniel could muster, and after each step he had to repeat the effort… and then repeat it again…and again… and again. The effort became too much, his feet too uncooperative. Daniel fell.

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The day, which had started with Jack snapping at Daniel for being late, had done nothing but get worse. First, because of his tardiness, he hadn't had time to check his pack. When he'd started working on translating the glyphs SG-3 had discovered inscribed on one corner of a vine covered temple wall he found he was missing a needed reference. He remembered taking the book out of his pack the day before to cross check a translation he'd been frantically trying to finish before this mission. Of course, to get it out of the pack, he'd first had to remove several tools, now also missing from his pack. This discovery did nothing to ease his pounding headache, which was a large part of the reason he'd been late in the first place. He'd woken this morning and rapidly come to the firm conviction that he had the flu. Never mind that he'd gotten his influenza vaccine this year along with the rest of the SGC. Feeling this rotten could only be due to the flu. His muscles had ached, his chest had felt heavy, and his legs had been strangely uncooperative. Their misbehavior had only gotten worse as the day progressed, and now his arms seemed to be intent on following his legs example.

"Daniel! Get a move on!" Ahead of him, Jack was bellowing back at him, and even at a distance Daniel could tell Jack was exasperated.

Daniel hadn't mentioned to Jack how he was feeling. He'd intended to tell. He'd even considered asking to be excused from the mission. There was certainly nothing time critical about the trip. But Jack's glare and pointed glance at his watch had communicated his feelings clearly, and Daniel simply hadn't had the energy to explain why he was late. Jack would excuse him from the mission, of that Daniel was certain. But Jack would bitch, moan and whine about it, and turn it into a major production. The mere thought of the energy it would consume was too much for Daniel to even contemplate. So he'd kept silent, and hoped that the extra-strength Tylenol would kick in soon. When the day had brought no improvement, he'd found himself unable to concentrate. Jack's constant background muttering hadn't helped. Daniel tried to ignore him, but the snide comments were hard to miss.

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Sam and Teal'c had been going about their work in near silence. The tension that existed between the members of the team since Euronda had reached a new high. Sam couldn't understand the source of Jack's ire. Oh, she could understand how upset he'd been at Daniel's insubordination, and she supported her CO on that issue. But… Jack had been wrong, too, to dismiss Daniel's concerns just because of the way they'd been presented. Jack's anger at the loss of the technology, and even more at the fact that he had been nearly become a part of a terrible war, was eating at Jack- and his anger at himself and the situation had been transformed into anger at Daniel. Which, Sam acknowledged, was unfair. She, too, had been irritated at the way the archeologist had chosen to voice his concern in public, rather than to the team privately, but ultimately he'd been right. Still, he had to have known how Jack would react to being publicly challenged.

Sam wondered if some small part of Daniel wanted to show Jack up. Even when he was right, Daniel seldom got in the last word. Jack usually managed that. Had Daniel, maybe, in a small way, wanted to be publicly proven right?

Sam sighed. There was more than enough blame to go around. She hadn't been faultless either. Daniel's insubordination had irked her, too, and she knew that had colored her perceptions of his opinion, and she hadn't given it enough credence. Certainly she hadn't given it the consideration she normally would have. She remembered the hurt in his eyes when she'd announced that she agreed with Jack. And Teal'c, weary of the bickering between his teammates, had simply ignored the entire debate and not weighed in on either side. While Teal'c didn't use words carelessly, he could be counted on to speak up if an issue was important enough. Inexplicably, he hadn't said a word about the conflict, either during or after the mission. Sam wondered if he was experiencing his own guilt. She knew the Jaffa didn't wallow in guilt, as humans might. If he felt responsible for a situation, he would take direct action, so his inaction was surprising.

Sam wished she knew a way to break the tension, to put things right again. Today the strain had been nearly unbearable. Jack had started the day in a less than stellar mood, and it had rapidly worsened as the minutes ticked away in the gateroom, and Daniel had not arrived. By the time Daniel appeared at 8:05, looking harried and a little pale, Jack's expression had been black. She'd been on the verge of asking Daniel if he was all right, but Jack had snapped "move out", without even greeting the archeologist.

And the day had gone downhill from there.

Sam, and Teal'c, too, she suspected, had been immensely relieved when Jack had called an end to the mission. Even Daniel didn't argue, although he didn't seem to have accomplished very much. When Jack grunted, "Pack it up, Daniel," the archeologist had simply given a weary sigh, and began packing his gear.

Sam had knelt on the grass by the wall, and began handing Daniel his tools. He gave her a tiny smile. "Thanks," he said softly. Sam noticed his hands were trembling, and she resolved to make sure Janet knew that something was wrong with her teammate. Sam wasn't going to let him out of the mountain until they talked. Helping him to his feet, they'd moved to catch up with Jack and Teal, already fifty meters ahead.

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"Damn it, Daniel," Jack muttered under his breath, looking back to where the archeologist was struggling to rise. Daniel had been nothing but trouble today. For the last several days, in fact. Since the mission to Euronda the archeologist had seemed to go out of his way to antagonize Jack. Pushing on every little issue, every detail, seeming determined to question Jack's authority at every turn. Take today, as an example. Jack had made it clear during the mission briefing that he wanted to get an early start. And what had Daniel done? Deliberately shown up late. Just a few minutes, not enough so Jack could really call him on it, but enough to subtly thumb his nose at his team leader. And then, to top matters off, he'd been unprepared. Jack was familiar enough with the contents of Daniel's pack to notice when something was missing, and watching Daniel working, it was obvious to Jack that the archeologist didn't have everything he needed. Daniel had been trying to brush off the dust covered wall with his fingers, rather than the little brushed he normally used. The lack of professionalism stunned Jack. This was a new low for Daniel. When it became clear Daniel wasn't making much progress on the translation, clearly hampered by his lack of proper tools and the thick reference he normally carried, Jack had called an end to the mission. The sole purpose of this trip had been to humor the archeologist, who'd been lobbying Hammond to be allowed to study the glyphs first hand. And Daniel had wasted the opportunity. Jack intended to speak with Hammond. This state of affairs could not continue.

Jack stalked back to where Daniel was still trying to rise intending to give the man a piece of his mind. However as soon as he reached the archeologist side, the lecture he'd been about to deliver evaporated. Daniel's eyes were wide with terror.

"Jack," Daniel gasped. "I can't get up!" He tried to push himself up with arms that shook, only to collapse back onto the ground.

"Okay, okay, relax. You're just tired. Here, let me give you a hand." Jack reached down. Daniel reached out with a shaking hand, but his coordination was off. Jack leaned forward, and grabbed the wavering arm, and tried to pull Daniel to his feet. Even with Jack's assistance, Daniel wasn't able to rise, and Jack could see the panic setting in.

"Teal'c," Jack called. "Could you give us a hand over here," Jack called, trying to keep his voice steady, fighting his own fear. Something was seriously wrong with Daniel, and his mind flashed back over the morning. Immediately everything took on new meaning. With a flash of guilt, he realized he'd been ignoring all the warning signals Daniel had been sending that something was wrong, and rather than offer concern and helpl he'd berated his youngest teammate all morning.

Teal had also hurried to Daniel's side, and together he and Jack lifted the archeologist to his feet, only to discover that even from the upright position Daniel wasn't able to support himself. Draping Daniel's arms over their shoulders, and holding onto his arms to keep them from sliding off, they pulled the archeologist along, his feet dragging between them on the ground. They weren't far from the gate, but the effort of pulling a full grown man who was unable to help support himself was hard work, and all three men were exhausted by the time they reached the gate— Jack and Teal'c from their exertion, and Daniel from fever and fear. Sam had activated the gate and was waiting anxiously for them. She joined them and as a group they entered the event horizon.

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

Chap 2:

"Janet, he can't breathe!" Jack's voice was raised, even though the doctor was only two feet away.

Janet looked up at him, and then glanced pointed at Daniel, who was propped up in an infirmary bed, his eyes wide with panic. He was too short of breath to speak. Janet looked at the device she'd just had him breathing into, and sighed.

"Daniel, I know you're having trouble breathing. There is nothing wrong with your lungs, but just like the muscles in your arms and legs aren't working right, your respiratory muscles aren't either. In a little while, we're going to need to put you on a breathing machine."

Daniel shook his head as vigorously as he could, which in truth wasn't very vigorously at all.

"Daniel, it will probably just be for a little while. I think you have a disease called Guillian-Barre. It doesn't usually come on quite this quickly, but it is possible. Most people recover fully, and we have treatments to help you get over it faster, but right now you aren't breathing very well, and we need to fix that quickly."

Jack turned his gaze from Daniel to her, and his eyes promised her he'd demand a better explanation eventually, but for now his attention was focused on reassuring Daniel. "We'll be here the whole time, Daniel. We won't leave you alone."

Daniel shook his head again, but this time his protest was weaker.

"You'll be sedated, Daniel, and you won't remember very much, if anything, about being on the machine. You need the help breathing," Janet said. She was talking calmly, soothingly, but her anxious glances at the monitors gave away her concern.

Noticing that Daniel's lips now had a bluish tinge, Jack chimed in. "Come on, Daniel. There isn't really a choice here. Quit giving the doc a hard time."

"Okay," Daniel whispered, and Jack and Janet both knew that their words had nothing to do with his acquiescence— he was so short of breath, he'd had no choice but to surrender.

Janet didn't waste a minute. She'd already had the ventilator standing by, as well as the medication and equipment she needed, and within a few minutes she had Daniel sedated and intubated. She fussed for a few more minutes over the ventilator settings, and then stepped away to allow the nurses room to do the work they needed to do.

Jack, Sam, and Teal'c, who had grudgingly moved out of the way while she'd intubated Daniel, were hovering at the back of the room. She knew they were frantic with worry, not knowing what was happening to their friend. She waved them over, and had them follow her to her office.

"What's wrong with him, Janet?" Sam spoke first, her voice trembling slightly.

"Well, I can't be one-hundred percent sure yet, but I think he has a disease called Guillian-Barre Syndrome.

Three blank stares met her gaze. She smiled slightly. "It means that for some reason Daniel has an inflammation of the coating, the myelin, around some of his nerves. That interferes with the nerve conduction, so his muscles, including the ones used for respiration, don't get the messages from his brain."

"That's why his muscles don't work, right?" Sam asked.

"Right," Janet replied. "But most people get better from this. It usually comes on more slowly, and then gradually gets better. I'm not sure how long it will be before Daniel will be able to breath on his own. We'll treat him by doing plasma exchange and giving him intravenous immunoglobulin. That seems to speed up the recovery." Janet shook her head. "It's a good thing you got him back so quickly when he started feeling weak. If he'd lost the ability to breath off-world…" Janet shuddered. "Well, I don't like to think what would have happened." She glanced at the three stricken faces. "What?"

"Daniel was quiet all day, but he didn't say anything about not feeling well. We didn't know anything was wrong until we were almost back to the gate."

"Yes, we did," Jack interrupted harshly. "We had plenty of clues. At least, I did. I just ignored them." He glanced at Teal'c and Sam. "Are you guys telling me you didn't notice anything odd with him all day?"

Sam looked chagrined. "Well, actually, yes. But I didn't think it was serious."

"I attributed Daniel Jackson's odd behavior to the conflict between you and he," Teal told O'Neill. "I should have paid more attention."

Janet wanted to be upset with them. How could they not have noticed how ill Daniel was? But there was nothing to be gained by berating them now. They were obviously worried and Jack, at least, was obviously feeling guilty. She put a hand on his arm. "I think he's going to be fine. And you DID make it back in time. At least you were together. I shudder to think what would have happened if this had happened while he was home alone, since it isn't very likely that he'd have come into the infirmary or gone to a hospital on his own. Being with you guys probably saved his life."

Jack wasn't buying it. Yeah, it was better than Daniel being at home alone when he fell ill, but he should have been in the infirmary, getting the treatments Janet had mentioned that morning, not off-world. And it was Jack's responsibility to make sure his team was ready, physically and mentally, before they went through the gate. Of course, Daniel did bear some responsibility for not telling Jack that he wasn't well, but that didn't make Jack feel better.

"So... what should we expect, doc?"

"Well, what I can tell you is that right now he can't manage to breathe on his own, so he needs the ventilator. We'll keep him pretty sedated until he starts to try to breathe on his own again. The disease will essentially paralyze him. When he starts to get better, his breathing should be the first thing that comes back, and then he'll start regaining movement in the rest of his body. He'll need physical therapy to regain strength." Janet paused. "Now, I'm assuming this is a normal, earth variety of this disease. If it's something he acquired off-world, then all my predications may be way off. And I am a little suspicious, since this came on him so quickly. But there is nothing else we can do right now, so let's not borrow trouble, okay?"

The trio didn't look satisfied, but they raised no more questions. Janet went to check on Daniel, while the remaining members of SG-1 worked out a schedule for sitting with their teammate.


	3. Chapter 3

Janet stared at the report in front of her. She flipped back to the front page to double check a lab value, and then pushed it away from her, sighing. On the one hand the information it contained wasn't bad. Just… confusing. She sighed again. She didn't know exactly what she'd been hoping for, maybe just confirmation of her diagnosis. And while nothing in the report contained anything that definitively contradicted it, neither did it fully support it, and it added a plethora of confusing information.

She scooped up the papers. She knew the general was waiting for his daily briefing. Since the beginning of her tenure at the SGC she had been in the habit of stopping by the general's office and updating him on the condition of any of the patients in the infirmary, as well as on anything else that might be of concern to him. Sometimes the briefings were formal, at other times they were casual conversations over coffee, but they were held like clockwork. And, whenever a member of SG-1 was a resident of the infirmary her audience grew. Tonight would be no exception. In the three days since Daniel had fallen ill, the rest of SG-1 had attended all her briefings, even if they had heard the same information fifteen minutes earlier. She wondered if they thought she might try to sneak in some new information to the general.

She climbed the stairs more slowly than usual. Besides Daniel, she had two other critically ill patients in the infirmary, five in serious condition, and an additional six with an assortment of minor illnesses that wouldn't have required hospitalization had they not been members of an organization that routinely encountered pathogens from off-world sources. No illness was too minor to not merit evaluation. She was exhausted, more than any time since her residency, and she was living on caffeine and adrenaline. And she wouldn't have been happy anywhere else.

As soon as she reached the top of the stairs, she felt four pairs of eyes on her.

"Coffee, Doctor?" Hammond offered. She could smell the fresh pot, and knew it would taste wonderful, but her stomach couldn't take another cup unless she got some real food first. She politely declined, and then took the seat that O'Neill had pulled out for her. She sank heavily into it, and couldn't hold back a sigh at the relief of sitting down for the first time in hours. Hammond smiled at her, and then nodded for her to begin.

She left Daniel until last. She ran over the less ill patients first, taking ten minutes. The seriously ill she spent considerably more time on. Hammond occasionally jotted down a note. Frasier knew that he spoke personally to the families of all the hospitalized patients daily, and he passed the information she provided him on to the families, as well as finding out what assistance they might need. It was hard on families, not being able to visit their ill loved ones in the SGC infirmary, and she and Hammond tried to minimize the hardship.

Finally, as the eyes of SG-1 were beginning to look a little glazed, she began discussing the critical patients. She spent a long while discussing Captain Lewis, who had meningitis. He had finally turned the corner, and she thought he had a good chance of making a full recovery, but his condition was still tenuous. As she shared the news with the general, she was aware of SG-1 growing increasingly restless, but she ignored them. As fond as she was of Daniel, she had other patients, and they deserved as much of her time and effort. Finally, when she had discussed every other patient, miraculously uninterrupted by her pager, she pulled out the sheet with the most recent lab values on it.

"Okay," she began taking a deep breath, aware that O'Neill and Carter had become more alert and were leaning forward in anticipation of her report. "Daniel's condition, clinically, is largely unchanged. However when we lightened the sedation this morning, we saw a few small efforts to take breaths on his own. It's a good sign, but we'll have to give it more time. Now, for the interesting part," Janet paused to pull a small, clear vial containing an insect out of her pocket. "We found this on Daniel. I've already had entomology look at it, and it isn't from earth. Rarely, through reasons we don't understand, a tick bite can cause these symptoms. The disease comes on more quickly than with normal Guillian-Barre, and once the tick is removed, the person usually recovers. This might explain why the illness came on so quickly. I'm hoping that means the recovery will be just as quick."

"Wait a minute," Jack interrupted. "So, Daniel got bit by that… thing, and it gave him this guilty-bar disease… but the only place we've been, other than mission the day Daniel got sick, was Euronda. And Daniel was sick before we left that morning, so he must have picked up that bug on Euronda. We were all there. How come Daniel was the only one who got bit?"

"Maybe you were all bitten at some point, but didn't notice. I'll have to check you all to see. But just because you were exposed doesn't mean that you'll get sick," Janet explained.

Jack still looked unsettled, and even Carter looked concerned. Janet sought to reassure them. "Guys, don't worry. You're exposed to all sorts of things right here on earth that you form antibodies to, and most of the time you never even know it. Even if you did get sick, the odds that you would have as severe a reaction as Daniel did is highly unlikely."

Carter seemed reassured, and Jack nodded, although he looked skeptical. Not that Janet could blame him. Given the things they'd encountered over the years, reassurance from the medical profession didn't mean a whole lot. Janet glanced at her watch. It was well past five o'clock, and she still had a lot of work to do. She knew that the general had a family event he'd planned to attend— and he still had to make his evening phone calls. She decided to try to wrap the meeting up. "That's all I have for this evening. I'm going back to the infirmary." She glanced at SG-1, not quite able to remember who was due on the next shift.

"I'll walk with you, Janet," Sam replied, providing an answer to Janet's question. "Would you like to stop by the cafeteria on the way? My treat." Janet gave her a grin at their running joke. The food in the cafeteria was free. It hadn't been back in the days when the complex belonged entirely to NORAD, but within days of starting Stargate operations up after the second mission to Abydos, Hammond had changed that. He'd had to buck a lot of red tape to do it, which showed the kind of leader he was, Janet thought. She glanced up to find Sam watching her, and realized she hadn't answered the question.

"Sure. But I'll have to make it quick."

Sam nodded. In companionable silence the two women made their way to the cafeteria. It was just past the peak dinner rush, so it didn't take them long to get their food and head back to the infirmary. As Janet had expected, Sam took her food and went to sit beside Daniel. Janet checked on Captain Lewis, and then made what she intended to be a quick trip through the ward. Of course, no trip through was ever quick, as she was stopped for a myriad of small, but important, questions. By the time she'd may her way back to Daniel's bed, Sam was finished eating, and her own dinner had grown cold. She picked up the container and considered discarding it, but Sam stopped her.

"Janet, sit down for a moment. I'll go reheat your dinner in the microwave, okay? And then, shouldn't you get out of here? Isn't Doctor Warner on tonight?"

Janet nodded both in response to the question and to accept Sam's offer. She sank gratefully into the chair Sam had vacated. While she waited for Sam to return with her dinner, she studied the archeologist. Something was different, but she couldn't put figure out what it was at first. He looked the same. She glanced at the monitors, and saw nothing out of the ordinary. Still… there! An eyelid had fluttered. Just for a moment. And… was there a difference to his face? Somehow the expression was different. Janet stood, and studied her patient carefully. "Daniel?"

"What is it, Janet?" Sam had returned. She deposited Janet's dinner on a bedside table she hurried to her side. "Has something changed?"

"No… I don't think so. Does he look any different to you?"

Sam studied her friend. "Well, not really… wait, did his eyelid move?"

Janet nodded. "I think so. That's what I thought I saw. And his face seems to have more tone."

"This is a good sign, right?"

"Yes. I think so." Sam smiled, and Janet could see the relief in her expression. She looked as though a huge burden had just been lifted. "I'm going to call the colonel."

"Not yet," Janet stopped her. "We're not sure of anything yet. It's really a subtle difference. Let's wait until the morning and we'll see how he's doing then, when we lighten the sedation, okay? If you call the colonel now he'll insist on coming in, and for what? Daniel isn't going to wake up with the propofol running."

"Okay," Sam agreed, but she added a warning. "You're going to have to take the heat from the colonel if Daniel's condition changes and you didn't call him."

"It's a risk I'm willing to take," Janet replied dryly.

* * *

"Why didn't you call me?" O'Neill demanded. He was standing by Daniel's bedside, towering over the doctor. Daniel was following the conversation, his eyes flicking back and forth between the adversaries.

"Because, Colonel O'Neill, Daniel didn't open his eyes until this morning, when we lightened his sedation. You were probably already half-way to the mountain by that time."

"Carter says he started to wake up last night."

Janet glared at Sam, who was studying the floor and trying to appear inconspicuous, before turning back to the colonel. "Sam's wrong. Daniel didn't really start to wake up last night. He couldn't, because of the sedation. He did start to regain a little muscle tone in his face. That's it."

Jack wanted to keep arguing, but saw there was no point. "Well, he's certainly awake now," he said. "Aren't you, Daniel?"

Behind him, Carter snorted.

"Daniel Jackson is, in fact, sleeping, O'Neill," Teal'c informed him.

Jack spun around, only to find that Daniel's eyes were again closed. He sighed. He wanted to talk to the archeologist, reassure himself that his friend was going to be fine, but that would obviously have to wait. He shooed Sam away- she'd been there all night— and claimed her chair. Sinking into it, he prepared to stay that way until Daniel woke again.

It was a few hours later, just when Jack was starting to make a dent on a very late supply report, when something caught his attention. He looked up to find Daniel's eyes were open. He was staring straight at the ceiling.

"Daniel?" Jack tried to catch his attention, and then remembered that Janet had said he might not be able to turn his head yet. Jack stood and moved into Daniel's line of vision. "Hey, Daniel."

Daniel blinked. And then blinked again.

"Daniel, can you blink once for yes, and twice for no?"

Daniel blinked once.

"Blink twice for no. Show me you can do it."

Daniel blinked twice.

"Janet!" Jack bellowed, and then turned back to his friend. "Daniel, are you in any pain?"

Daniel blinked twice.

"Good. That's good. Hey can you move anything else?"

Daniel was still for a moment, and then blinked twice.

"That's okay. It will come. Listen, you're getting better. Faster than Fraser even expected."

Fraser had arrived at Daniel's bedside in response to O'Neill's shout. "Hey, Daniel," she said gently. "You're doing fine. I know you can't move very much right now, but that's going to get better. And you've got a tube down your throat helping you breathe, so you can't speak. But you're getting better. Is the tube bothering you?"

Daniel blinked once.

"Okay, I'm going to give you some medicine to help that," she told him. She gestured for a nurse, and whispered something. A few minutes later the nurse returned with a syringe full of medication and injected it into the IV line. It didn't take long for Daniel's eyes to drift closed.

"What did you do that for?" Jack demanded. "He was waking up. Why'd you put him back to sleep?"

"Colonel, it's going to be a slow process for Daniel to regain his strength. He won't be off the ventilator for some time yet. I am going to keep him comfortable, especially right now when he has no real way to communicate with us."

"He was communicating with me just fine!" Jack protested.

"Colonel, I am not going to argue with you. As long as Daniel is paralyzed I'm going to keep him sedated."

"How long will that be?" Jack asked, frustrated.

"It could be a day or it could be a week. I'll tell you when I know," Janet replied, and Jack couldn't pry anything else out of her.

* * *

It turned out to be a few hours. Jack was in his office when Teal'c, who was sitting with Daniel, requested he come to the infirmary. When Jack arrived he found the head of Daniel's bed raised. Daniel was moving his head. In fact he was moving it vigorously, shaking it in negation.

"Daniel, please. Calm down." Janet was trying to reason with the archeologist. "I know it's scary not to be able to move. But it's getting better, okay?"

Daniel was watching her, and he seemed to be calming down. When he finally nodded in response to her words, Jack gave a little wave, and Janet came over to him.

"What happened?"

Janet sighed with weariness. "I've absolutely amazed at how quickly he's recovering. He can move his head, and he's taking a few breathes a minute on his own, so I don't want to sedate him if I can avoid it. But it's frightening to not be able to move much, and the tube is uncomfortable." She brightened. "The good news is that at the rate he's recovering, it shouldn't be too long before I can extubate him."

"What about our blood tests?" Jack asked. "Any word?"

"Yes. Actually, it's quite interesting. You and Teal'c don't have the antibody, but Carter does. Was there anything Daniel and Sam did differently than you and Teal'c? Anywhere they went that you and Teal'c didn't go?"

"Well…" Jack considered. "They came back here without us, one time. And…I think they both ate the food the Endorans ate. Teal'c didn't eat it, and I don't remember eating it either. I was trying the wine, and when I heard what it was I… declined. Carter and Daniel were too polite."

"Well I doubt that the bugs were in the food. Unless it's a complete coincidence that Daniel was bitten by a bug at the same he was getting sick from something else. I doubt it, but we may never know for sure. I'll have to ask Sam if she's had any symptoms of illness. Maybe something minor she didn't pay too much attention to, like cold or flu symptoms."

A thought struck Jack, and he turned cold. "Janet, could someone have deliberately put that bug on Daniel? He was the one questioning the Eurondans. And Carter did too. I mean, eventually I did, too, but if they were trying to keep us from figuring out what they were doing, Daniel and Carter would have been the logical targets. And it would have looked natural, too."

"Oh, I hope not," Janet was clearly distressed at the thought. "I really don't want to think someone would do this on purpose." She shook his head. "Like I said before, I doubt we'll ever know for sure."

For a moment they were silent, and then Jack spoke again. "Anything we can do to help Daniel?"

"Just say with him and keep him calm. Call me if you have any trouble."

Keeping Daniel calm was not as easy as it sounded. The archeologist was clearly still confused, and as he began to regain strength he repeatedly tried to pull out his intravenous lines and made a play for his endotracheal tube. Jack had to talk nearly nonstop to keep him distracted. However as the day progressed, and Jack began to get hoarse, Daniel seemed to become more lucid. He lay quietly, listening to Jack ramble. Slowly his eyes drifted closed.

Janet came over, glanced at the sleeping archeologist, and then turned to Jack. "Well done," she said. "I was afraid I was going to have to use restraints." She turned back to Jack. "Are you okay?"

"I'm-" Jack's voice was hoarse. He coughed, clearing it before continuing. "Fine."

"Go home, Jack. Sam's here, and Daniel's exhausted. He'll sleep all night. I've turned the ventilator support up a little and sedated him so he can rest. If he does well tomorrow, I'll extubate him."

"What about you? You should be going home too. You've been here… I don't even know how many hours you've been here."

Janet smiled, not answering the implied question about how long she'd been there. "I'm leaving, too. Doctor Carlson is on tonight. He's on loan from the Academy Hospital until we get the requested additional staff. I'm just going to sign out to him, and I'll be out of here."

Jack rose, and then offered a hand to help the diminutive doctor to her feet. "See that you do get out of here soon, Doctor. You need rest too."

Janet only gave him a tiny smile.

* * *

The next morning Jack found Sam working on her laptop by Daniel's bed while the archeologist slept. She was pounding the keys harder than Jack thought necessary, and when she looked up Jack could see she was very angry. He decided to tread carefully.

"Good morning, Major."

"Good morning, sir." Her words were curt, and for a moment Jack thought she was angry with him. He tried to think of what he could have done since he'd last seen her to cause her to be so upset. He gave up and decided to just ask her.

"Major? Something wrong?"

She met his eyes and nodded. Wordlessly, she gestured at Daniel. Jack wrinkled his forehead, puzzled. Daniel seemed to be resting peacefully. Carefully Sam lifted the blanket covering the archeologist and pointed.

Jack immediately understood, and shared, her anger. He pointed at the door and then strode to it. Sam followed. Once they were outside the room, with the door closed, Jack exploded. "What the hell happened?"

"It was terrible, sir. Daniel woke up at about four this morning, and he was a little out of it. He started pulling on stuff. I tried to talk to him, and he was calming down, but that doctor from the Academy insisted on restraining him. I tried to tell him I'd sit with Daniel and keep him from pulling out stuff, but he wouldn't listen. After they restrained his hands, Daniel panicked. They had to sedate him again. Janet was going to try to wean him off the ventilator this morning, but now we have to wait for the sedative to wear off again!"

Jack was furious. How could this have happened? Hadn't Janet told the new doctor about Daniel? Hadn't she told him about SG-1, how they were there for each other?

Janet was talking to someone Jack didn't recognize. Jack strode angrily over to her, intending to give her a piece of his mind. He assumed her companion was the Academy doctor. He hoped she was giving him a thorough chewing out, but as he drew closer he could tell they were having a casual conversation.

"What were you thinking?" Jack interrupted them without apology. "You restrained Daniel? Why?"

"Jack, calm down. Dr. Carlson was just explaining the situation to me. It looks like he didn't have any choice.

"What do you mean he didn't have a choice? Of course he had a choice! Carter was here, she could have kept Daniel calm if you'd given her a chance. You didn't-"

"Jack, listen to me. I know it's not fun, but this is not unexpected. Daniel is still sick, and he gets confused. He needs the restraints for right now. As soon as he's a little more alert, we'll take them off. Trust me, he likely won't even remember this."

Still not convinced, Jack was forced to acquiesce. There was nothing else he could do.

Janet proved to be right. The next day Daniel was improved enough to be extubated, for which Jack was deeply grateful. Keeping Daniel from getting agitated had been becoming more and more difficult as he became more alert. When he was finally off the machine however, he denied remembering anything of his intensive care stay.

The day after Janet extubated him, he was able to use his arms enough to push himself into a sitting position. The day after that he was able to sit without difficulty and wiggle his toes. Two days later he was able to stand with assistance. It did take a toll on the archeologist. When he wasn't working with the physical therapist or eating, he was asleep. Every time Jack came to visit Daniel was either dozing or there were other people with him, preventing Jack from being able to really talk seriously with his friend. Surrounded by nurses, physical therapists, and all manner of health care personnel, Jack and Daniel were never alone. And they needed to be to really talk. Sam and Teal'c tried to help, making excuses to leave them alone and trying to run interference, but in the crowded infirmary it was a futile effort. So Jack and Daniel talked about trivialities, only occasionally touching on the more serious matters. But at least they were chatting. The terrible tension that had plagued the team prior to the mission was gone, or at least in hiding. They were able to laugh and joke with each other. And for a while Jack thought maybe that would be enough. Maybe they wouldn't need to have a 'serious discussion'.

It was while he was reporting on SG-7's most recent mission that he realized how wrong he was. As he described how things had nearly turned to chaos because of a subtle mispronunciation that had changed the meaning of a word from 'visit' to 'vanquish' he was hoping to get a chuckle out of Daniel. When he turned his gaze from SG-7, waiting for their post-mission physicals, he caught Daniel in an unguarded moment, and saw the wariness in the archeologist's eyes as he watched Jack. As soon as Daniel realized Jack was looking at him, he'd smiled and laughed, and if Jack hadn't seen his expression change he might have believed the laugh was real. But that fleeting expression told him that however much improved things might seem, on the surface, there was still a deep cavern between them.


	4. Chapter 4

Chap 4

"Where's Daniel?" Jack looked around, puzzled. The infirmary was very quiet with only one airman, who was suffering with the flu, in residence. Janet was nowhere to be seen, no doubt taking advantage of the rare quiet to catch up on her myriad of duties. The only one in the infirmary besides the sleeping airman was Janine, the nurse who had taken care of Daniel throughout much of his illness.

"Oh,good morning, sir. Dr. Fraser already saw him. He said he was going to go to his office."

Jack glanced at his watch. It was zero six thirty. While it wasn't unusual for him to be at work this morning, Daniel was supposed to be working short hours. There was no need for him to be in so early.

Unless he was trying to avoid Jack.

If he was trying to avoid Jack the early hour made perfect sense. Daniel knew that Jack usually arrived at six, worked out, showered, read his email, dealt with any urgent issues and then went to a zero eight hundred briefing with the general and the other team leaders. That was usually done by nine. He'd grab a coffee, and then SG-1 would meet at 9:30 if they were planning an imminent off-world mission. Otherwise, he'd go back to his office and work on his reports or any of the other paperwork his position as second in command generated. This would usually occupy him until noon when the team would try to catch lunch together. Not always possible, but it was nice when it happened. The afternoon was almost always devoted to planning future missions, and catching up on what each member of the team was doing.

Jack knew that Daniel was only supposed to be working four or five hours a day. It was reasonable to assume that meant the archeologist would come in at eight or nine and leave shortly after lunch. That would leave plenty of time when he and Jack would have gaps in their schedule. By coming in at six, Daniel would have to leave at ten or eleven in the morning, if he was following the doctor's orders, making it much harder for Jack to casually run into him.

Jack didn't really think Daniel was that sneaky. At least, he hoped not, because he really didn't like to think Daniel was that intent on avoiding him. But why else would Daniel be coming in that early? Jack didn't know but he intended to find out. He had no intention of wasting all the time he'd invested in trying to figure out the archeologist… and he wasn't about to let the hard won friendship slip away. Determined, Jack headed for Daniel's lab.

"Daniel?"

"Hmmm?" the archeologist didn't look up from the text he was studying. Jack stood in the doorway, watching. He'd been there for several minutes, waiting for Daniel to notice him. Daniel, however, was so deeply involved in the manuscript he hadn't noticed his team leader, and Jack had grown tired of waiting.

"What'cha doing?"

Daniel finally looked up, and then glanced back down again at the text. "Oh! I'm just working on this manuscript that SG-3 brought back from their last mission. It's a completely new dialect of Goa'uld. I can't make heads or tails out of it so far." Rather than sound discouraged, the archeologist sounded delighted at the challenge.

"Oh," Jack walked a little further into the room. "You going to be able to get it?"

"Oh, sure. Eventually." Daniel was serenely confident. He turned to meet Jack's gaze. "What's up? I thought you had budget meetings this morning."

Jack grimaced. "Yeah. We're on a break. Big fun up there though."

Daniel chuckled sympathetically, and then looked back at the text longingly, and Jack knew he was dying to get back to it. Jack cleared his throat. Daniel reluctantly turned away from the tattered, yellowed papers in front of him. "Jack?"

"Daniel. I just wanted to… well, you know…"

"I know."

"You know I didn't know you were sick, right? On the planet?"

Daniel nodded, his expression unreadable. He glanced back at the text he'd been working on, and with a resigned sigh pushed it away. He pulled over a stool, and gestured for Jack to sit. "I know," he repeated quietly before looking away.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Jack asked. "You could have died, Daniel! If we'd been further from the gate, if we hadn't been able to get you back to Janet in time…" Jack broke off shaking his head. "Damn, you really scared me."

"Sorry."

"Daniel." Jack's voice was firm, with a touch of command in it. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Daniel looked away, his gaze falling on his shelves. For a few minutes he didn't speak. Jack forced himself to be patient. Finally, Daniel took a deep breath and turned back to Jack. "Not enough energy."

"Not enough energy?" Jack asked, puzzled.

Daniel nodded.

"Sorry, Daniel, I'm not following."

"It would have taken too much energy, Jack. You were already upset, and I knew you'd argue, or say something about why was I sick, had I wasting too much time on pieces of broken pottery, or not got enough sleep and let myself get sick… or something else that I was supposed to have done that I hadn't done, or done something I shouldn't have, or… I don't know. But I was sure I was going to have to explain myself, justify myself, and… I just didn't have the energy." Daniel hadn't been meeting Jack's eyes, but now he looked up and gave a small smile. "Besides, I thought it was a virus, and I could rest when we got back. I didn't know I was going to get that sick."

Jack didn't reply, his thoughts racing. He had thought Daniel might be afraid of being thought weak, and so had tried to cover up his illness, but this took him by surprise. Daniel looked up at him again. "Jack, why didn't you-" he broke off, shook his head. Jack waited for him to continue. When he didn't Jack prompted him. "Daniel?"

Daniel looked up, and briefly an emotion Jack couldn't identify flashed across his face. But it was gone too quickly, and Daniel's face had become an unrevealing, mask. "It's nothing," the tone was level, pleasant.

Jack stared at him. This was like pulling teeth. For a moment he considered giving up, but something, maybe the tension in Daniel's shoulders, or the fact that the archeologist hadn't returned to the manuscript yet, told him he should stay and try one more time.

"Okay, Daniel. I'm sorry. Okay? I knew something was wrong. You weren't being yourself. But damn it, I was so mad."

Daniel nodded. "I know. What I didn't know was why. Exactly."

"Because, Daniel, I thought you trusted me."

If Jack was looking for a reaction he couldn't have been more successful. Daniel's mouth dropped open, and he froze. For several seconds he stood that way, before managing to close his eyes. "What… I… I trust you, Jack. I… why… what?" Daniel sputtered.

Jack couldn't help but smile. It was a rare occasion when he was able to render Daniel speechless. But the smile quickly faded. "Yes, Daniel. I thought you trusted me. Trusted me enough to believe that I would consider both sides of the situation. But you didn't give me a chance to do that. You backed me into a corner… and it pissed me off."

Daniel's eyes were nearly bulging out of his head. "I DO trust you, Jack. If you can't see that-"

"Then why didn't you give me a chance to deal with the situation?"

"Because I didn't think you'd listen—"

"See? You didn't trust me."

"No! I knew you'd do the right thing, once you got all the information. And you did. I was just afraid you wouldn't get all the information in time. You were so caught up in all the technology they had. I just wanted more information. What's wrong with that? Isn't it my job? To find out about the people we meet? To learn about them? It's your job, and Sam's, to figure out the technology, and the military applications, right?"

Jack nodded.

"And it's mine to figure out about the people. Right?"

Jack nodded again.

"So I was just trying to do my job! But you wouldn't let me. And this isn't the first time. And I get so tired of fighting. Just to do my job. That's what I meant. I just didn't have the energy to fight you anymore, Jack." Daniel paused, his eyes skipping from one item to the next in his office. "Can you understand that?"

Jack wasn't sure how to respond. He knew what Daniel meant and he, too, was tired of fighting. It seemed like he'd been fighting for his entire career. Fighting with bureaucrats for funding, fighting with higher headquarters for resources, fighting with pencil pushers who didn't understand the situation on the ground, and, for the last few years, fighting with a civilian archeologist, who, ironically, he'd had to fight to get on his team in the first place. He considered his words carefully, knowing instinctively that if they didn't get this right, now, they might never.

"I can, Daniel. Can you understand I want the same thing? To be allowed to do MY job, without having to fight about it every single time? Do you understand my responsibilities? Which include keeping the team intact and alive? Including you. Making sure you can do your job IS part of my job. And I get tired, too, Daniel. Tired of having to explain myself every step of the way--and so I quit trying. Because sometimes I just don't have the energy either. Can YOU understand?"

Daniel dropped his head, embarrassed. He had been so convinced he was right, that he held the moral high ground. But…Jack was right. Daniel might not have meant to but he had very effectively undermined his team leader. And it was Jack's job to take all the information they had and make the best decision he could. For every one. And if he sometimes cut Daniel off a little too early, and seemed to not be considering all options— well then, it was Daniel's job to bring it to his attention… but maybe there was a better way of doing that. For the first time, Daniel recognized just how far he must have pushed Jack— and how tolerant Jack really had been.

Sheepishly Daniel raised his gaze to find Jack staring at him, worried. Daniel managed a genuine smile. "In other words, we both want the same thing."

"Yeah," Jack replied, and then as he thought about it he realized how true it was. "Yeah, that's right. So maybe you can let me do my job, and I'll let you do yours." Jack grinned. "I'll even try to act interested."

Daniel took the little offering. He shook his head in feigned dismay. "I don't want you to hurt yourself."

Jack sobered. "Seriously, Daniel. I NEVER want you to think you can't tell me if you've got a problem. No matter what, you need to let me know if you're sick, or hurt, or… anything. Cause I can't do my most important job if I don't know."

Daniel tensed. He had thought, for a moment, that maybe Jack actually cared about how he was doing. But no, it was all about the job. Defeated, he asked, "What job is that?"

Jack thumped him twice on the shoulder and then strode out of the room. Over his shoulder he called, "Being your friend, of course."

Daniel smiled. Of course.

The end.

Prompt: The challenge prompt for this story was: Daniel is sick or injured but he hasn't let on to the team until it's almost too late.

AN: I will be taking a hopefully short break from writing SG-1 stories. I have an Enterprise story that needs to get finished, and I don't have any SG-1 ideas currently brewing. I've appreciated every one who has read and reviewed. Thank you so much.


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